ASNE Day '94
Stealth Ship Technical Details To Be Released For First Time At ASNE Conference ASNE Day will be held at the Sheraton Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C. on April 27-29, 1994. The theme for this year's ASNE Day is "Naval Engineering The Technical Challenge Continues," and much of what the show has to offer will reflect that theme dealing with today's cutting edge developments and tomorrow's challenges in the marine engineering field.
According to Margaret New of ASNE, attendees with an interest in high-tech are in for something special. "They'll find out the most current technical information out there today — for instance, one paper is going to be on the Stealth ship. This is the first time the inside technical information on the project is going to be released from security restrictions." The show has also grown since last year; Ms. New expects even more than last year's estimated 3,000 attendees.
The technical theme will be present from the start, beginning with the keynote address by ASNE President George P. Nanos. Then the theme will be broadened as the show moves on to the paper presentations. There will be 23 papers over two of the three show days, covering a wide variety of technical subjects dedicated to the present and future of marine engineering. Rooted in the present are such presentations as Live Fire Test and Evaluation for Ships; The PCF: A Patrol Craft Standard; An Assessment of Current Warship Damaged Stability Criteria-, The Maintenance Requirements System: Risk-Based Resource Programming at Work; and Quality Management and Shipboard Maintenance.
Most of the sessions deal with naval engineering's future. Among them are Use of Virtual Environments in the Design of Ships; Navy Force Planning for the 21st Century; FF-21: A Fast Frigate for the 21st Century; Naval Special Warfare Future Concepts - The Case for Operational Mobility; and Achievements with Advanced Craft. In addition, there will be a session on an airborne passive/active electro-optic sensor system for theater ballistic missile defense, and another on a conceptual design for a Convertible Heavy Lift (CHL) ship.
The sessions also take time to remember the past: Session 2A, moderated by the USCG's Capt. Paul Hagstrom, includes a paper called A Truly Allied Undertaking: The Progeny of Britain's Empire Liberty, 1931 - 1943.
Other features of ASNE Day deal with the future of marine engineering in terms of who will become the marine engineering professionals of the future. Session 3C promises to be an extremely useful experience for young marine professionals, de- voted exclusively career development and including a panel of four maritime professionals discussing personal qualifications, transferable skills, degrees and career paths.
"There is a lot of concern for people getting out of the Navy about jobs — especially with all the recent Navy downsizing," said Ms. New. "We want to help in any way we can the people who are entering the commercial marine field." Also geared toward the future are the ASNE Day luncheon and awards on Friday, April 19, which will recognize the winners of several awards, including young scholarship winners and winners of ASNE's Science Fair. And of course, the ASNE Day show always presents one of the greatest arrays of exhibitors from the marine industry. At press time the exhibitor count was over 130 companies from the technological, manufacturing, shipbuilding, engineering design and service ends of the marine industry, and more were registering. Expectations are that the exhibitor count will exceed last year's.
Also different in this year's show is the addition of a spouse program: spouses will be entertained with a tour beginning with brunch, and including visits to Washington D. C.'s botanical sights: the Botanical Garden, the National Arboretum, and the National Herb and Rose Garden. Another change is that the ASNE Banquet, usually held at the end of the technical sessions, this year will be held on the evening of Thursday, April 28 so more attendees wanting to get home for the weekend can still participate. "The whole industry is in a critical time," said Ms. New on the importance of ASNE to the maritime industry. "Forty years from now the Navy could be virtually nonexistent if we don't show the world there's a need for it." Ms. New said that even beyond the Navy's defense function, "we need to keep ourselves alive by showing that the Navy plays a meaningful role." For more information on ASNE Day '94, contact Margaret New at ASNE at tel: (703) 836-6727; fax: (703) 836-7491.
